Family
by Miasushi
Summary: A collection of one-shots consisting of sweet, sad, and/or emotional situations and scenarios that have to do with families in RWBY. It's a happy family picnic; It's a game night; It's a tragic family situation. I know they might not come true in the show...but why not dream?
1. Game Night

"I could've sworn I attacked first!" Yang shouted, her face and eyes equally bright red, "You should've been disintegrated by my Flaming Axe!"

Her left hand held up her scroll, which served as a controller for the game they were currently playing, and her right hand was clenching her dad's sleeve a little too hard, pinching his skin along with the fabric of his shirt. The screen of her controller had flickered to a red with a black skull covering it.

"Hey, ow, Yang!" Tai yelled angrily, his eyes glued to the screen in front of them, "You're distracting me!"

"Well," Yang said angrily back, her eyes still red, "If you hadn't been moving your arms all over the place while pressing so many buttons at the same time, I wouldn't have been so tense!"

Team RWBY, ORNJ, Sun, Neptune, and Qrow all sat bunched together in the Xiao Long's living room, an intense session of Super Smash Heroes blaring on the large TV that stood in front of the couch.

Jaune sat at the end of the couch, half sitting on a plushy cushion and half having his head being concussed as Qrow's hand and Sun's elbow bore furiously down on it. Qrow sat next to him, his teeth gritted and his hand pressing down on Jaune's head in a frantic attempt to shun his impressive skill in the game, as well as hold his controller with his other hand, level to Jaune's ear so that both hands could access his scroll.

Next to Qrow sat Ruby, her whole body tensed as she struggled to uphold her high reputation in the game, as well as being partially smushed by the two large men she was stuck in between. A plate full of fresh chocolate chip cookies had been sitting on her lap, but had been knocked off a while ago from the aggressive gameplay.

Tai was next to Ruby, his elbow up against his daughter's hair, causing it to fuzz a little in the spot. He was sitting so firmly in his spot that when Yang had been fighting against her imminent defeat in the game and had been pressing herself into his shoulder, he wasn't budged and continued rapidly increasing his status.

Although, Yang's metal arm against his normal, muscular but fleshy arm, was starting to hurt some. It was beginning to get a little frustrating, but he didn't care right now. His mind was immersed on the objective of defeating Ruby, Qrow, and Jaune.

Weiss sat on the floor, Zwei curled up snuggly in her arms, by the edge of the couch, where Jaune was sitting. She had insisted that video games were for dolts, even on special game nights, like this. So she was intent with just snuggling with Zwei and watching the drama and commotion of her friends.

Behind the couch, with her long black hair spilling over the front of it and touching Jaune's shoulder stood Blake, her elbows resting on the top of the couch and her scroll in her hands. Her fingers vigorously pressed the buttons with perfect organized ease, and her face expressed nothing by sheer determination.

But anger accompanied that expression, due to the fact that Sun stood behind her with his strong but painfully heavy hand on her shoulder, loudly cheering her on with his other hand balled into a fist. He shook it at the TV screen, his elbow jabbing Jaune's head, shouting cheers and prompts to whatever character was doing something cool.

And then, last of all, Ren and Nora sat together on the floor in front of the TV. Ren's gentle arm was around her as she held up her scroll, which had turned red and was angrily vibrating the announcement of her defeat. Her tongue was sticking out, and Ren smiled at her silliness.

Ruby wore her dark gray pajamas, the ones she had woken up in after the Fall of Beacon. Yang and Weiss were wearing the same pajamas they had worn while in Beacon. Blake was wearing a dark purple pair of pjs, which, according to Sun, looked a lot better than her boring black nightgown.

Sun was simply wearing a faded reddish-marroon tank top, his usual black fingerless gloves, and some black sweatpants. One of his feet were covered by a semi-dirty white sock, while the other had been stripped off of his foot by the Blake Monster, who had been attempting to steal his shoes from him.

He had been disqualified due to cheating, according to Neptune, because he had been secretly using his tail and dueling as two players, using his tail player as a dummy for his hand player to kill over and over again, crediting him with the most KOs. So now he simply cheered on Blake..or whoever.

Neptune said he was too cool for video games and had tried to flirt with Weiss some. But she preferred Zwei, so he decided to settle with sitting next to Yang in the hopes of gaining her attention once she lost. Her orange tank top was a little low, and it made her look pretty hot, plus, she was pretty playful...

"Take...THIS!" Ruby shouted, thrusting her hand forward as she dealt a tricky combo-attack to a closely player. A vibrant, intricate flurry of colors and damage numbers rose up on the screen soon after.

"No!" Blake gasped, making Sun grin at how competitive she was, "How's this, Ruby?" Blake's fingers dotted over the controller, and Ruby's eyes widened and her mouth dropped.

"Not a defensive reflector shield!" she squealed, looking crushed, "All that build up for NOTHING?!"

"Counter," Tai said, grinning almost impishly. Blake and Ruby's mouths both dropped at the same time as they watched both of their moves be countered and dealt back to them with double the damage. Both girls' screens flashed red and began wildly vibrating.

"Noooooooooooo!" Ruby cried, throwing her head back against the head of the couch, "How could I have lost so soon in the game?! I was so close to beating Uncle Qrow and Dad!"

"We only started about thirty minutes ago," Weiss scolded her leader, "And you weren't even close to defeating them in the game. They had twice the health your character did."

Jaune, who's character had been completely idle because of the fact that he had been unable to move it while Qrow and Sun had been bearing down on him, sighed with exasperation as the counter had also effected him, and his character was disintegrated along with the two others'.

Weiss just rolled her eyes and petted Zwei's velvety stomach, smiling softly as he stuck his tongue out and panted happily. He had really gotten excited when everyone had come back to visit them. Fortunately, this clever corgi had remember Weiss, and was connected to her her immediately.

"Hey Tai," Qrow said, his voice, although low, raspy, calm, and ambient, containing some kind of controlled anger, "Watch this. When I move to the left, your character moves to the right. Funny, huh?"

"Yeah, right," Tai answered back, unamused and his eyes fixed on the screen, "Not falling for that one again. Besides, what kind of stupid distraction is that? Literally no one would believe that."

"I did..," Ruby murmured, poking both index fingers with each other as she did.

"See, and she lost!" Tai continued, sticking his tongue out as he fought to destroy his brother-in-law's character of choice. Qrow just grinned, waiting for what always happened when he played games with people.

It was only a moment after that Yang decided she was tired of Neptune's babbling and had lay down, her head moving Tai's arm and causing him to misplace a move he was trying to make. His character rocked sideways off of a cliffside on the map, and he could't recover in time...

His controller flickered red and began vibrating angrily in his hands.

"No!" Tai shouted frustrated, but at the same time in high spirits, "No, no, no, no, no! How does this always happen?! How do you always win! It's always something unlucky, too! Are you sure you can't control your semblance?!"

Jeez, Tai," Qrow said smugly, "You think I want to put the people I care about around me in danger whenever I'm around them? No, of course not. Be grateful you all can control yours." He shrugged and then grinned as his character flashed in the victory spot on the screen.

"And the winner is..!" the deep voice of the narrator in the game boomed, "Player 4!"

The name, "BaddieCharm.:)" hovered about Qrow's character, who was looking pretty full of himself. The other names, weird as they were, hovered about everyone else.

"RlyRlyKoolKid" hovered above Ruby's.

"ShdwKitty3" for Blake's, chosen specially by Sun.

"FireBallin17" for Yang.

"ThatTaiGuy" for Tai.

"QueenOfPancak" for Nora, since you could only have thirteen letters/numbers per name.

And then there was, "VomitBoi" for Jaune, chosen by Ruby and then encouraged by everyone else who had attended Beacon in the same year that he had and was aware of the joke.

"What a bummer," Blake mumbled as Sun put his bulky arms around her slim shoulders, "I feel like I really couldn't won."

"Nah, you kinda stink," Sun said blatantly, shrugging, "But to be honest, I really liked how focused and competitive you were. Surprised me there for a bit." He gave her one of his silly grins and he was answered with a bland, amber glare.

"You monkey-brain," she chided, flicking him in the face with her somewhat sharp nails. But she ended up giggling as Sun made an overly dramatic offended face and pretended to be deeply hurt.

"That was horrible!" Yang fumed, crossing her arms angrily across her chest, "Let's play again!"

Her mood changed immediately, her eyes flashed back to lavender, and she snatched up her scroll as the screen flickered back to the next round. The others quickly took up their controllers as well, eager to try again for victory, despite some of thems' low chances.

Sun smiled and pecked Blake on the cheek, temporarily distracting her, but causing a slight and real smile to flash on her face before a determined look overtook it.  
Neptune casually put his arm around Yang, who either didn't notice it whatsoever, or didn't care. His hand rested against her side, and he felt a pleasant satisfaction at the touch of her shapely curve. He smiled to himself and boredfully watched the game rage.

Nora snuggled up against Ren, who had now taken over playing for her and had no idea what he was doing. He rested his head against hers in return while still trying to figure out what in Remnant the objective of this game was.

Weiss cuddled Zwei closer, almost wishing she could join in on the chaotic game. Ruby cast a quick, silly glance at Jaune that said, "I'm gonna beat you and you're gonna loose", and he returned it with a wink and an eye roll.

Qrow grinned at Ruby and then continued to play, and then Tai, who was much more calm now, looked briefly around at the cozy, lighthearted, family-like atmosphere of all the people gathered in his living room. They were all like one big family, despite how so many of them weren't even related...yet.

It was all so great and happy and wonderful, and for a little while, just a little while, Tai forgot about everything that was constantly plaguing him. Raven, Salem, the safety of his daughters, Summer and her death, the protection of the world...everything.

With a smile and a quick wiping away of a stray tear, he continued playing Super Smash Heroes, grinning as he found himself in the upper hand of the battle, despite how he hadn't even moved since the start of the round.

* * *

**So this one-shot was inspired and based on the artwork, "Talk About a Crazy Game Night" by InsterSomethinAwesome. It's a very well done image, in concept and skill. I really do wanna see something like this in the show...even though I doubt it will happen.**

**Quick note, this story will not be updated constantly; I am spending much more time on my other fiction, A Rosegarden Seedling.**

**Featured story advertisement: Deafening Silence, by TheAngelOfFate. (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this) **

**Do What We Do Best, by RelightTheTorch. (Trifa and Roman fans, read this)**

**A Silent Connection (JauneXNeo fans, read this)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Awaiting Baby Xiao Long

"Raven, do you want anything to eat?"

Tai walked casually over to the refrigerator and opened it up, a light draft of cool air following. The annoyed grumbling emanating from the room behind him gave him a vague enough answer.

"So...that's a no then?" he half-called back. More mumbling followed, and Tai smirked, chuckling to himself. He knew what was coming next, and he couldn't help but toy around at least a little more.

"If I wanted a snack, I wouldn't gotten myself one," Raven's low, dark mutter answered. Tai grinned.

"Are you sure?" he joked, "Because I'm not so sure you could even leave your bed with you fat belly!" He stifled his laughter as he bent down and reached for a small tub of yogurt. But the expected angry shouts of insults did not come. Shrugging, he stood back up and crossed the kitchen for a spoon.

But the sliver handle of the utensil had just left the drawer when it was yanked from his hands and thrown with high speed towards a picture on the wall. It just barely missed the glass covering the photo, and instead smacked into the wall, leaving a dent on it, and fell to the floor with a clang.

Tai looked slowly up to see bright red eyes glaring furiously at him, steaming scarlet cheeks accompanying them. His wife stood in front of him, clad in a loose red bathrobe that looked softer than it really felt. Her hands were balled tightly into fists, and she did _not _look happy.

"Well, someone's looking red today," Tai chuckled, "Did you get that checked?"

"Shut up, Tai," Raven said darkly under her breath, "Quite your lameness." She turned around and walked to the dining room table, sitting down heavily onto one of the four chairs surrounding it. Then she just sat there, glaring out the window.

"How exactly am I suppose to do that?" Tai asked, walking over to her and then squishing himself past the narrow space between the wall and then table. He bent over and grabbed the spoon that she had thrown and then stood back up.

"I don't know," Raven said, switching the hand she balanced her head on, "Maybe you could drop those stupid dad jokes you've been trying at all month?"

Tai raised a brow and then shook his head.

"No, not now," he said simply, "Not while I'm still supposedly bad at them. I may not officially be a father yet, but that just means I need to try even harder to get my dad jokes in shape! I've gotta have them all ready for the nurses and doctors in the delivery room when our precious little baby is born."

He smiled and slid his arms around Raven, his hands covering lovingly over her large, round stomach. Raven rolled her eyes, but a rare, light smile found its way onto her lips.

"Well, our 'precious little baby' needs to hurry up and get out of me," she said, looking down at her hand-covered abdomen, "I never agreed to let it stay for more than nine months. That would be infiltration."

"Ah," Tai said, standing back up and holding up a finger, "You mean..._Infant-tration_!"

"Ugh," Raven said in disgust, "I said enough of those!"

A sweet roll of laughter could be heard from the kitchen window, which was open for the sake of fresh noon air. Tai and Raven turned around and saw Summer's head poking in through the window, a bright smile on her face.

"That was funny, Taiyang!" she giggled, "How do you come up with these so quickly?"

Tai approached the window, opening it a bit more and allowing Summer's head more room.

"I dunno," he answered with a shrug, "I guess it just comes naturally, me getting ready to be a daddy and all. It's pretty exciting when I really think about it. Just imagine, a mini Raven wondering around, but she's got my sense of humor!"

Summer laughed and nodded her head. "That would be so great! Congratulations again, you two."

"How many times are you going to say that?" Raven complained, still sitting at the table, "That's got to be the thirtieth time you've said that since we told you. Maybe we never should have announced-"

"Thanks, Summ!" Tai said happily, "We can't wait. Even Raven's been pretty eager to have the baby." He turned his head and called back to the dining room, "Isn't that right, honey?"

"You don't need to shout like that," Raven growled back, "And no, I'm just sick of looking like a walking dust barrel. This child means nothing to me; nothing, you hear?" She shook her fist half-heartedly at her teammates before turning back around and staring out the dining room window again.

"Oh no..," Summer whispered, "How awful! Does she really think that?"

"Nah, she talks like that all the time," Tai whispered back assuringly, "And you know what? Sometimes, I catch her when she's alone in her room, and she's rubbing her belly and talking to it. Isn't that adorable?" He snickered.

"Awwwww!" Summer chirped, "That's so cute!"

"WHAT'S cute, Tai?" Raven called, her back facing them.

"Nothing, Raven, just random stuff about random people and-"

"ARE YOU TELLING HER ABOUT MY LIFE AS A SOON-TO-BE MOTHER?!" Raven roared, standing up abruptly from her chair and stomping to the kitchen window, "You'd better not be, Tai; you'd better not be. If you are, I swear-"

"Hey, hey, calm down, babe," Tai said, holding up his hands and wrapping his wife in a hug, "Everything's gonna be okay."

For whatever reason, Tai's hug had seemed to simmer and cover over Raven's fuming, and soon enough, they were both kissing each other fervently. Summer was grinning widely as she watched the two of them, admiring Tai's magical ability to be so smooth in these moments.

_I wonder if I could get Qrow to kiss me like-_

"Hey, Summ," Qrow's raspy, familiar voice said behind her. It startled her, and she jumped badly upon hearing it.

"Oh!" she said, flustered as she met eyes with her teammate, "Hi, Qrow! W-what's up? What are you doing here? I thought you were...um, what were you going to be doing again?"

Qrow chuckled.

"Nothing, actually. Just some low-life nonsense."

Summer rolled her eyes. "Okay, so...what's up?"

Qrow gave one look at the scene playing in the window before he looked away, grunting when he did. Summer giggled at his reaction and stepped away from the window. She and Qrow locked eyes, and a warmth seemed to fill both of their cheeks.

"Tai called me over and asked me to help him finish building the nursery," Qrow said after a few moments, "He said it needed to be finished A-S-A-P. And you know how Tai can get if we don't hurry with something important." He winked at Summer as he began walking off.

"Catch ya later, Summ." He walked away and disappeared around the corner of the wooden house, his footsteps in the grass trailing off as he got farther away. Summer sighed and then walked back to the window, seeing now that the couple had finished their kissing spree and were now back where they were before.

"Raven, is there anything you want me to do for you?" Summer asked sweetly, her head poking through the open window again. Raven glared at her, as if upset at her leader's persistent helpfulness.

"Can you induce labor?" she asked flatly, her glare remaining. Summer blinked, momentarily confused.

"Um, no," she answered, "Why would want me to do that?"

"Now, now, honey," Tai said, leaning down and placing a kiss on his wife's cheek, "We don't want our precious little baby to be messed up or anything now, do we?"

"I could care less," Raven mumbled, crossing her arms, "It's just a baby, after all. Babies don't amount to anything but a mountain of diapers and far too much lien spent, not to mention the hours of long, grueling, pointless cleaning to be done in-between."

"I would give _anything _to have just one little baby," Summer murmured dreamily, "They're just so cute and precious and tiny and adorable..."

"And to get one is also enjoyable," Tai chimed in, holding up another finger. Raven swatted it away and clambered off towards the table again, purposely adding extra oomph to her steps.

"Shut up," she muttered. Tai just shrugged.

"Well, I'm gonna go and work on the nursery," he said, pointing a thumb at the back of the house, "I asked Qrow to come help; hopefully that guy's here. If he isn't...then I'll make Raven punish him."

"Do you think you could really get her to do that?" Summer asked.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Tai said with a grin, "Talk to you later, Summ." He left the kitchen and headed to the back of the house, where the three-fourths finished nursery was in construction.

Summer smiled and left her place by the window, approaching the front door and then opening it, entering the house. It was so clean and tidy, perfect for a nice little family to settle in and live. Tai really was a great man, even if he was stupid sometimes. But he was leaving that stupidity behind, now that he was going to be a father.

"Hey, Raven," Summer greeted as she walked over to the table, "What are you doing now?"

"Regretting my life decisions," Raven answered, "Why do you care."

Summer frowned. "Because you're my teammate and friend. I've always cared."

Raven blinked. Had Summer just called her 'friend'? Of course she had. Summer had said that about her all the time, despite how rude, glum, stubborn, and ignorant Raven often was. Summer's heart was pure and loving. Too pure and loving for Qrow to have.

"Why do you even like Qrow?" Raven asked, her voice staying glum and low, "He's nothing but a trouble maker and a bad luck charm. He isn't worth anything, and he knows it. All he can do is swing a sword and make silly or ironic comments."

Summer sighed and looked down.

"I don't know," she answered simply, "I just...I love his smile and his handsome face...I love the way he treats me and how determined and serious he gets with things aren't good or someone is in danger. I love how he fights for what he knows is right, and how he even became a huntsman in the first place."

Raven's eyes widened for a split second before returning quickly back to their half-closed, tired state.

_Oh yeah...that. Qrow's suppose to kill people like Summer, and I'm suppose to kill people like Tai..._

"R-Raven, are you alright?" Summer asked suddenly. Raven looked up to see Summer looking worriedly at her, the white hood that usually covered her head now resting on her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she answered stubbornly, "Leave me alone."

"But you looked scared for a moment," Summer continued, "Like you were afraid of something I just said. Is Qrow hiding something scary from me or something? Or did I say something to startle you somehow?"

"I told you to leave me alone," Raven snapped, her temper rising, "So, _go away_!"

Summer sighed and nodded. "Okay."

Then she turned around and walked back out the door, deciding to go back and check on how the nursery was coming. Maybe she'd make them some lemonade and cookies. Yeah, they'd like that, especially the cookies.

Raven sat there, wondering if she should have considered marrying Tai at all. She loved him; he loved her. But she wasn't suppose to get married, let alone, have any children. She and Qrow weren't suppose to, and they certainly weren't suppose to love any huntsmen or huntresses.

She slammed her head down on the table, exasperated. It hurt her forehead to do that, but she didn't care. She had thought this same problem over and over, and now knowing where the Spring Maiden was and young she was...She couldn't let her mind rest at all right now.

If she couldn't love Tai, and if the Spring Maiden couldn't contain or understand her powers...Why was she even here at all? Why not just leave after her baby was born? Tai was responsible; he could manage. And besides, all she needed to do was let go of him.

She was used to letting go of things, anyway.

_But I love Tai..._

"Oh, forget it," she grumbled, "I don't need to leave. Not yet."

* * *

"Cookies are served!" Summer called cheerfully, stepping into the unfinished nursery, "Come over and help yourself!"

Tai and Qrow, both shirtless and only wearing their pants, staggered over, smiling eagerly at the plate in Summer's hand. The sweet aroma of chocolate cookies wafted from the dish and made their mouths start to water. Their skin was shiny and sleak from sweat, and their chests moved up and down as they panted.

"Thanks, Summ!" Tai said, smiling widely as he grabbed a cookie. Qrow just smirked and then thew a wink at his leader, making her blush. He was always so smooth like that, and it had gotten him very far in terms of ladies. But Summer knew that she was special to him.

Soon enough, both men had their mouths stuffed full of their snack, and crumbs fell from their mouths. Summer giggled at the sight of them before taking a big bite out of a cookie she had taken from the plate as well.

"Wow," she marveled, looking around at their progress, "This room is looking wonderful! It'll be perfect to welcome Baby Xiao Long into this world."

Tai nodded in agreement. "I'll say!"

His gaze drifted from his leader to his wife, who had walked into the room and was now standing next to Summer. She was now dressed in a bright red maternity shirt, one that she had complained about ever since Tai had bought it for her. She also wore a pair of skinny black leggings and some black socks.

The shirt seemed to hug her bump perfectly, highlighting it and making it look perfecty round and smooth. Despite how awkwards she felt, and the tired, glum epxression she wore in her bright red eyes, she look pretty at the moment, much prettier than she had looked in her bathrobe.

"Hey, Mama Raven," Qrow teased, sitting himself roughly onto one of the benches that stood by the wall. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Call me that one more time, and you'll wake up in a coffin tomorrow morning," she growled. Tai walked over to her and placed his hands on her stomach, a warm, loving smile on his face. He rubbed it and then lowered his face until it wa level to it, placing a firm kiss on its smooth surface.

"I can't wait to see you, little baby," he whispered, smiling again, "And me and your mom are gonna raise you up to be the best huntsman or huntress alive. Isn't that right, Raven?"

He looked up at her, his blue eyes twinkling.

Raven blinked, the glum look in her eyes replaced with a look that almost passed as sad. Her previous thoughts had been lingering in her mind, and now she wanted to cry. It didn't help that she would get all moody sometimes, but right now was one of those times. Now she _really _didn't feel like killing Tai.

"Sure," she said, trying to look normal, "Whatever."

But amidst it all, she couldn't help but show a rare, soft smile. Tai was the best man alive, and she was with him. He didn't deserve her, but she didn't deserve him, so who cared? She didn't. All that mattered was that she didn't end up ruining his life forever or something bad like that.

He wasn't weak, so he would live. The strong live and the weak die, as she always said.

"Aw, look at them," Summer mused, now standing beside Qrow, "Look at how sweet they are together!"

"Eh," Qrow said with a shrug, "Too sappy for me."

Summer roughly threw a playful elbow at him, causing them both to laugh for a little while. "So, you saying that you loved me in our third year at Beacon was too sappy for you?"

"Well, no," he answered, grinning as Tai and Raven kissed again, "I'm just saying, the whole thought of sucking the lips off someone's face is too sappy for me. A nice, soft, peck-like kiss is good."

"How do you do a 'god, soft, peck-like' kiss?" Summer asked, confused, "That would just be a peck then, right? I'm talking about a full-blown, married people or deep lover kind of-"

Her sentance was cut short by the sudden pull from Qrow and the abrupt feeling of his lips pressing on hers. Her silver eyes were wide open with surprise, and the next thing _she _knew, she was hugging him tightly and kissing him fervently.

Tai looked back at the two and chuckled. Raven just rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering when Qrow would finally wake up," he said merrily.

"Ugh," Raven was all she said, and Tai grinned as he followed her back to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

* * *

**This chapter was not inspired by any particular art piece; just my will to see a peak of what Team STRQ was like before they all split apart. I do ship Qrow and Summer, and I do think that Ruby is Qrow's daughter, so...yeah.**

**Story Advertisement: Deafening Silence, by TheAngelOfFate. (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this) **

**Do What We Do Best, by RelightTheTorch. (Trifa and Roman fans, read this)**

**A Silent Connection (JauneXNeo fans, read this)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Three Lonely Siblings

A heavy rain dumped outside, roaring as it pelted the top of the Schnee Manor and seemed to echo through the long, empty hallways. Although the sounds were somewhat muffled and significantly quieter from the thick walls, the noise was still very audible.

To Winter, the sound was soothing and relaxing, like a sweet, natural song the night was playing for her tonight. She sat, alone, in her large, warm, cushy bed, her pale blue silk nightgown going up to her heels. She watched the drops fall onto the glass of the window, colliding with others and then reducing to smaller droplets, dotting the pane.

The darkness of the night was accompanied by a soft light from the large, shattered moon, giving the whole atmosphere around her a deep bluish tint. Everything was peaceful and perfect for sleeping...but why, then, was Winter Schnee, a simple, immature nine-year-old, still awake?

Sliding off the bed, Winter padded across the cold marble floor, her bare feet catching some of the chilly draft that slowly crawled across the room. When she reached the window, she climbed onto the window seat cushion and sat there, instead, watching the rain fall closer.

But even after what seemed like an hour more of that, she still felt as if she couldn't fall asleep, like any big of tiredness she could ever harbor was completely gone. Burned and buried or something.

Sighing, she reached for the window lock, undoing the bolt and then slowly opening it, smiling to herself as the sounds of the pounding rain intensified and grew louder as the window opened more and more. Soon, she felt as if she were actually outside, tiny bits of the pouring rain hitting her through the grate of the frame.

She took a large breath of the wet, rainy air and then exhaled, wishing she could just leap out of the window and land without injury, then play around in the rain all she wanted with no one to stop her and no possibilities of catching a cold or anything.

Winter blinked. No, she was still sitting here, on the window cushion watching a potential thunderstorm. Sighing, she closed her eyes and leaned her head up against the grate, not at all minding the moisture that was added to her hair upon contact. It's cool touch was comforting.

"Winter?"

Her eyes flashed open and she sat up, realizing that she had been sleeping in her previous position. Her hair was completely damp, along with a portion of her face and a big of her nightgown. Frowning, she shook her head, turning around to see who had said her name.

To her relief and delight, she saw Weiss, no older than four years old, standing at the entrance to her room. Dressed in a satin white nightgown, staring at her with sky blue eyes, and the moonlight highlighting her snow-white hair, she looked like a little angel.

"Hey, Weiss," Winter said, smiling softly, "Are you afraid of the storm?"

Weiss walked over to her sister, placing a slightly chubby hand on her leg before looking up into her eyes again, a serious expression on her young face.

"I miss Mama," the little girl answered, "Where's her?"

Winter rolled her eyes and pulled Weiss up onto the cushion, balancing her on her knee and holding her close. Weiss smiled and accepted the cuddle, returning one of her own accompanied by a soft giggle.

"She's..," Winter began, wondering how to describe the terrifying scene she had seen a few hours earlier, "Um, busy. With work and stuff."

Weiss nodded, not aware of what anything else by "busy" meant. To her, it meant that she wasn't coming to see them right now, and that she would come sometime later, after she was done. The definition had been taught to her since infancy.

"Winter?" she asked, looking up at her again, "Can I bring Whitey in? He come with me to here."

Winter rolled her eyes, chuckling, and nodded her head.

"Why not," she said, looking towards the entrance to the door, "And it's _Whitely_, not Whitey." She booped her little sister gently on the nose before picking her up and carrying her to the bed, dropping her onto the soft bedding with a light thud and more giggles from the latter sibling.

A few frustrated groans sounded from somewhere outside the door, signaling that Whitely was likely attempting to enter. Smirking, Winter jumped off her bed and landed neatly on the floor below, tiptoeing to her open door and peaking out into the long, dark hallways.

Through the dim moonlight, she could barely make out Whitley's tiny silhouette, a shadow nearby on the floor. He mumbled something in baby gibberish before attempting to stand up and run towards his sister. But before he could accomplish this, he was scooped up by Winter and tossed playfully into her bed.

Weiss clapped with delight, wrapping her little brother in a tight hug-too tight. Whitely did not take a liking to this and began to whine and squirm in Weiss' arms, a little too loudly for Winter's liking. She hurried to the bed and gently took Whitely from Weiss, setting him in her own lap.

"And now it's just us three, taking on the storm alone," Winter said with purposeful drama. Weiss looked intrigued and stood up, folding her hands behind her back and smiling at her siblings.

"I'm the Ice Princess," she declared proudly, closing her eyes and upturning her chin.

"No, no," Winter corrected, "You're the Ice _Queen!"_

Weiss thought about it for a moment before answering and pointing a stubby finger at Winter.

"But what about you?"

Winter shrugged.

"I'll be...Mrs. Schnee, the only mother in the world who can manage a million things at once!"

Weiss looked confused and had little understanding of the concept, but nodded her head with a smile. Whitely wriggled free of Winter's arms and then stood up, a bit of a difficult task with the soft mattress, and staggered behind her, his arms out. Then he tackled her forward, ending up in her laying on her stomach and him sitting triumphantly on her back.

"Ha, ha," he said, Winter looking over at him in annoyance, "Whitwey win. Whitwey won from Win'ner."

His young voice was somewhat hard to understand, but he spoke clear enough for them to get what he was saying. Weiss stood there, smiling with her hands folded innocently behind her back while looking at Winter, who still lay under captive of Whitely. He was still cheering his own victory, like he always did.

Little did any of them know, but at the doorway, blending in with the shadows and the shades of the Manor behind her, stood Willow, still wearing her cocktail dress from the party that had ended a few hours ago. Her arms folded across her chest and her whole right side leaning up against the wall, she watched her children play, despite the fact that it was almost 2:00 in the morning.

"If only Jacques were here to watch this," she murmured to herself, so quietly none of the kids could hear her at all, "Maybe then, he'd change his mind about the way he views this...family."

Shaking her head, she turned around, the near-empty glass bottle of fancy vodka raising slowly to her lips. She hesitated before deciding fully to allow the burning liquid to flow into her mouth and make its way down her throat. It burned so badly, it felt like she was swallowing liquid fire.

But the pain made her feel good. It was a nice, burning pain that overpowered the pain that Jacques constantly brought her, day after day, night after night. Even if the pain was worse than this, it was better than anything her own husband was dealing to her, not matter how much more it hurt.

"I do love you three..," she whispered after the bottle turned up empty, "I hope that one day you know and understand that."

* * *

**This is a much shorter one, inspiring by the art titled "Better Days", by susukarasu.**

**Story Advertisement: Deafening Silence, by TheAngelOfFate. (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this) **

**Do What We Do Best, by RelightTheTorch. (Trifa and Roman fans, read this)**

**A Silent Connection (JauneXNeo fans, read this)**

**I find stuff like this so adorable and sad...Anyhow, thanks for reading and have a great rest or your day...or night. :)**


	4. A Crazy Morning Arc

"Mommy! Mommy! Where's my schoolbag?!"

Sage Arc dashed down the stairs, followed by five others almost identical to her in size. One of the four, Sandy Arc, tripped on her untied shoelace, resulting in four of them to tumbling down the stairs and land roughly at the bottom in a big groaning heap. One of them, Saphron Arc, had avoided the accident and had jumped off of the third stair instead.

"Aw, Sandy!" the shortest one, Scarlet Arc, complained, her newly brushed sandy colored hair once again turned into a spiky mess, "You've ruined my hair now! Just look at it! Now I look like you, Sage"

She frowned and pointed to Sage, who's hair was the shortest of them all and currently in a big blond mess. Sage pretended to look offended before breaking out into loud laughter, smiling with her big smile. A single tooth was missing, making her look even more immature and young.

"I call the Marshmallow Flakes!" Sandy screeched, making a mad dash for the breakfast table.

"No, _I _call those first!" Sunny Arc, Sandy's twin, argued, rushing to the table as if her life depended on it.

"Actually, I called those last night during the Guess-Who-Kissed-First-Last-Night-Game," Sage yelled, holding up a finger, "But maybe I'll just take the chocolate-honey flavored one that Mommy hid in

But when the two sisters reached the table, they found the half-gone box of cereal in the hands of Sky Arc, the nerd of the family.

She glared at the two of them through her large, wide-lensed glasses before shaking her head and carefully pouring herself a bowl, filling it to the brim. Sandy and Sunny just stood there, watching the bowl fill without even thinking until the box was put down and the bowl was taken away to the island in the kitchen.

The twins exchanged glances before running after Sky with their hands out for the box. Sky scowled at them, raising her glasses a little higher before sniffing disapprovingly and setting the box down on a higher countertop.

"Get your greedy little arms away from Pumpkin Pete," she scolded them, as if she were their elder. She was actually a year younger than them, but no one really cared, due to the twins' immaturity and insanity. She grunted at them one more time before climbing onto her stool and digging into her cereal. Dry with no milk.

Sandy and Sunny looked at each other again, nodding in some form of agreement before taking a deep breath at the same time and then screaming in unison,

"SAPHRON! SKY'S BEING A MEANY-JERKFACE!"

Saphron, who was currently searching for her backpack, looked up and gave her twin sisters a crooked grin.

"Is she?" she said, pretending to look serious, "Goodness gracious gosh! I'll give you guys your breakfast for you!"

She skipped into the kitchen, snatching two plates from the cupboard, and set them on the table in front of the twins, along with a pair of forks and spoons. Then, still holding the same cunning grin, she took a large serving spoon and dug it into the trash can, walking over to the plates and heaping garbage onto them.

Once both plates had been filled, Saphron tossed the spoon haphazardly into the sink, resulting in a loud clang, and then clapped her hands together as if satisfied at her work. The twins looked at her in disgust.

"Dig in, my beautiful sisters!" she said cheerfully in a loud voice, "Some perfectly healthy and nutritious breakfast food for you; matches you two quite well, by the way. Nice choice!"

She burst out laughing before dashing over to the counter where the box of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes stood, the picture of a rainbow-haird unicorn lady on the cover holding a bowl of the sugary cereal. She happily poured herself a bowl, purposely doing so in a slow manner so as to tease her sisters.

"That innocent rabbit's face..," Sandy said furiously, glaring at the smiling face of Pumpkin Pete, "Those black, burning eyes that bore down into ours, torturing us with that wicked, _enticingly evil _bunny smile!"

"Never trust the bunny!" Sunny continued, her voice just as concentrated in emotion, "Never trust the bunny..."

Sage darted around the room, searching for her schoolbag without her mother currently there to aid her. In her haste, she slammed into Scarlet, who had been on her way to find her missing literature book, and the two of them bumped into the table, an empty bowl falling off the edge and shattering on the tile floor.

But not a single one of the girls paid any heed to it as they hurried along with their morning activities, shouting, banging, arguing, laughing, and shrieking. None of them noticed the absence of their mother, though.

"Hey!"

Sapphire Arc's loud voice overpowered that of the six others', and every little head turned to the source of the call. Their oldest sister, 16 years old, stood at the top of the stairs, her mop of yellow hair somewhat brushed through. She looked somewhat upset, her lip curled in a frown and her hands on her hips.

"What would Mom say if she saw you all like this right now?!" she continued, her voice an intimidating yell, "Go on, eat your breakfast and shut up."

"You shut up!" Sage shot back, skipping to the table and sitting herself down. Sandy and Sunny began laughing wildly from that comment, repeating their sister's shout-back all the way until their mouths were stuffed with Pumpkin Pete's.

In a short manner of time, all seven Arc sisters were seated and eating, the noise level in the room toned _much _down and replaced with the quiet sounds of food being eaten. The crunching of cereal, the slurping of milk, the clanging of spoons against bowls...

"G'morning, guys," Jaune's small voice said from above them. Five sisters looked up to the top of the stairs, seeing a tiny Jaune Arc slowly making his way downstairs with his little hand tightly holding the rail as he descended. His yellow t-shirt was mostly covered by the black hoodie he wore, Pumpkin Pete's face sown perfectly in the middle.

"Quick!" Saphron said eagerly, grabbing the box of cereal and pouring it messily into everyone's bowls, "Use up the rest of the Marshmallow Flakes before Jauney comes and tries to get some!"

When the box reached Sapphire's bowl, it was closed and put right in Jaune's place at the table, immediately. Saphron frowned at her oldest sister, only to receive a dangerous glare back that silenced her at once.

Jaune walked over to the table, smiling at the fact that his hair was normal and down, _unbraided _and _un-doneup_. He climbed eagerly onto his chair and held out his bowl to Sapphire, who smiled her greeting to him and served him his breakfast.

When he began eating, Sky had just finished. She slid off of her stool, cleared and washed her bowl and spoon, and then walked over to the table where the rest of her siblings sat eating. She looked patiently around, adjusting her glasses again, and then stared at Sapphire as if waiting for something.

"What?" Sapphire asked after noticing her.

"Where's Mom?" Sky asked, her voice curious and calm at the same time, "I haven't seen her all morning, and I can't recall seeing her last night, either. Do you think she's alright?"

Sapphire took another spoonful of cereal and swallowed it before she cleared her throat and called everyone to attention, her face a little more serious now. Sky took a seat, seeing that the answer to her question could be serious.

"Listen up, girls," Sapphire began, her gaze traveling over to her brother's unamused and slightly annoyed face, "And Jaune. Mom isn't exactly home right now. She's a bit busy at the moment."

"What, busy in the bedroom?!" Saphron cut in with a loud laugh, "Gross!"

"What? No!" Sapphire scowled, unhappy with her sister's immaturity, "Busy as in, she's preoccupied with something that she needs to deal with. She's helping Dad right now, so that's why he's gone, too."

"Where's Daddy?" Scarlet asked innocently, her blue eyes staring intently into her older sister's. Sapphire seemed to hesitate before taking a slow, slightly shaky breath and looking all of her siblings hard in the eyes.

"Daddy go hurt by a robber last night," she answered slowly, "He's with Mom at the hospital."

The entire tone of the room shifted from crazy, silly, and rambunctious, to quiet, somber, and suspenseful.

"Oh no!" Scarlet cried, her eyes wide with fear, "Is he okay?"

"Is he bleeding?!" Sunny fretted.

"Is his eyes popping out?!" Sage suggested, horrified at her own suggestion, but fascinated at the same time.

"Is he gonna die?!" Sandy gasped, her head leaning on her hands. Sapphire shook her head and wrung her hands angrily at Sandy and Sage, wishing that they would stop jumping to conclusions such as that.

"No, he's not going to die and his eyes are _not _popping out," she answered, "And he's _going _to be okay. Right now he's just a little hurt and needs the doctors to help him heal a little. Then, after a little time, he'll come back home with Mom in a little bit!"

The world _little _had been used quite a bit in her explanation, a common word for the Arc children. Many of them were similar in size, and that size was _little_. So that word was often used for many things in their house, even if it wasn't in context.

"I sure hope he's gonna be okay," Jaune mumbled, looking very worried.

"Yeah," Sunny laughed, pointing at him, "Cuz then you'll be the only guy in our family! Hashtag Outnumbered!"

Sandy, Sunny, Sage, and Saphron all touched their fingers to their noses and pointed at each other with them, as if symbolizing something in which Scarlet and Sapphire were not aware. Jaune new full well what it meant, but didn't care. He hoped his dad was alright and not bleeding to death in an alleyway or something.

"So that means that I'm in charge," Sapphire continued, pointing to herself, "Since I'm the oldest and Mom called me and told me to tell all of you that you have to listen to me now, until she gets back."

"What if we don't wanna listen to you?" Sage shot back with equal sass as before. Sapphire gave her another frightening glare to shut her mouth.

"You will," she answered slyly, "Or the belt will meet your tale-ends and make them black!"

Sage, Sunny, Saphron, and Sandy's eyes all went wide with fear and they fell silent immediately. Sapphire grinned, but retained her firm structure from before, standing to her feet and facing her siblings.

"All of you are to have your breakfast finished, your school things gathered, and sorry butts outside the door, you hear me?" she ordered, holding up a finger to give herself an authoritative look.

"No," Sage answered brashly, "I don't hear you; Saph's chewing is too loud."

Sapphire glared at her sister and shut her up again.

"Yes, Ma'am!" the seven sisters and Jaune all answered affirmatively, saluting to their "leader" and skipping to fulfill their tasks while Sapphire began on breakfast cleanup.

Being in charge was not something she particularly wanted to do, but with Sky, Jaune, and Scarlet on her side against Sunny, Sandy, Sage and Saphron, they might do fine. Sky seemed capable enough to handle her older siblings, and Jaune and Scarlet were sweet and easy to bend to her will.

_Ugh, just please get better soon, Dad. I miss you, and I'm pretty sure Mom wouldn't feel comfortable with leaving her eight kids behind without her for more than a week._

Sapphire shrugged and began washing dishes, grinning when she saw that her seven siblings were indeed doing as told, and soon enough, they were all outside, waiting for the bus to come and "abduct them to alien central", their term for school.

* * *

**This story was not inspired by any art in particular, just the Arc family picture in Saphron's house, seen in Volume 6. They're so CUTE, and I had fun coming up with names that matched the RWBY code and all started with an S. XD**

**Story Advertisement: Deafening Silence, by TheAngelOfFate. (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this) **

**Do What We Do Best, by RelightTheTorch. (Trifa and Roman fans, read this)**

**Doctor Taurus, by RelightTheTorch. (Villain fans read this; it's humorous, not serious)**

**A Silent Connection (JauneXNeo fans, read this)**

**Thank ya for reading!**


	5. A Night at the Wukongs

"Stella, get back here!"

Blake's exhausted, futile call was answered with the snooty sneering of her four-year-old daughter who was rushing against her mother's will down the hallway, knocking several pictures off the walls in the process. Her black monkey tail trailed behind her, flicking vigorously as she ran.

"No, Mama!" Stella screamed back at her mother, laughing manically as she ran, "I wanna pway more!"

The syllables in her sentence were blended together from her young voice, resulting in a very adorable noise. Stella rounded the corner, feeling for sure with immature confidence that she had outsmarted and tired out her mother enough to escape bedtime, only to turn and face a deadly obstacle.

"Gotcha!"

Sun's voice shouted in her face as his strong, muscular arms squeezed themselves around his daughter's small body, lifting her up into his arms and keeping her there with undefinable strength. She squirmed as hard as she could muster, trying to pry herself from her dad's arms, only to find her efforts to be in vain.

"Bedtime, baby," Sun said, placing a firm kiss on Stella's messy black hair, which was done up in two half-undone pigtails. Her tail swatted hard at her dad, only softly hitting his elbows without any pain accompanying.

"Do you want Mommy or Daddy to lay you down?" he asked her, repositioning her in a less squished position, "If Daddy lays you down, you won't get a mean 'ole spanking."

Stella stopped fighting, considering what Sun had just said with childish seriousness. Then, with with a wide smile and a large nod, she answered with a sweet voice that added to her fake innocence,

"Daddy!"

Blake rolled her eyed with a frustrated groan, leaning up against the wall, her arms crossed.

Sun caught sight of her and winked, a wink that told her in a brazen, proud voice, _Told ya I'm better than you at this!_

"Alright, baby," he said, kissing her forehead as he headed for the door to her room, "Let's go then. It's off to Dream City for you!" He walked into the room, ducking to avoid the lower entrance, and then lowered himself onto his knees. Taking Stella from his arms, he lay her onto her little bed, unmade as usual.

Kissing her gently on the cheek, her covered her with the dark blue blanket sprawled messily on the mattress and tucked her messily in. She smiled happily at her father and then stuck her tongue out at him in a mean, silly manor.

"Aw, naughty girl," Sun teased, fuzzing the top of her already messy hair, "You get to play tomorrow morning, okay? And maybe I'll let you play with Daddy's weights, huh?"

Stella's eyes lit up and she laughed joyfully, excited about this new fun proposition.

"Fun!" she shouted, far too loudly for Blake's bearing, "Fun! Can I drop it on Pwuto?"

Sun chuckled and shook his head, standing back to his knees and hunching over slightly so that his head didn't bump the ceiling. "No, baby," he said, "No dropping Daddy's weights on Pluto."

Stella looked frustrated for a moment before she rolled over and snuggled deeply into her bedding, mumbling dreamily into her pillow. She had her silly ways of going to bed, taking largely from her father's side.

Sun smirked at his daughter and turned to leave, flicking off the light to the room before he left. He was met right after with the heart-wrenching whimpering of the other four-year old of the family. He looked down at the tiny blondie standing at his feet, looking into his eyes with wide, dim blue eyes.

"Aw, Luna, what's up?" he asked, bending over and scooping up the girl. Her whimpering ceased as her dad's arms hugged around she heavily resting her head on his shoulder right after. Sun grinned at that and walked back into the room where Stella lay in the dark.

Walking over to the other little bed in the corner, opposite of where Stella's was, he lowered Luna into it, hoping she wouldn't start whimpering for him like she always did. To his relief, she stayed silent, her eyes still open and staring up at him while he covered her up with her bedding and kissed her on the cheek.

"G'night, babies," he said quietly, straightening up and then walking back out of the room, closing the door gently after. But after that, it was the awkward staggering of a chubby toddler that met his ears next.

"Hey, buddy," Sun said, picking up his son and instead, walking into the living room where a warm fire crackled in the fireplace. He sat down on the long couch that stood in front of it and cradled the little boy in his arms.

"Hi, daddy," the toddler said in a sleep-heavy voice, "I wanna be a hutwessesess."

"You mean a _huntsman_," Sun corrected him, poking him on the nose, "Because you wanna be like Daddy, huh, Sol?"

Sol looked up at his father, lacking understanding of what he had just said, and instead gave him an adorable, dumb look, his mouth slightly open, surrounded by his chubby little cheeks.

"No, I'll beat him to it!" a little girl's voice shot out from behind them. Just after, a five year old leaped onto the couch from behind, flopping awkwardly onto the cushions and nearly falling off. Sun's hand shot quickly out, catching his daughter's leg right before she fell. He pulled her up next to him and Sol, cuddling her close.

"Daddy doesn't almost die like that, Pluto," Sun said as if lecturing her, "He's careful and stealthy in everything he does. If you wanna be like him before your little brother, you've gotta loose the ears, grow a tail, and learn exquisite monkey-braininess."

Pluto frowned at him, her cat ears flattening as she did so. Her thick, black hair was already barely past her shoulders, swirling around them and sticking up here and there with multiple cowlicks.

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" she spat stubbornly, giving him her mother's exact same glare, "Did I get to choose whether or not I was born a cat Faunus? No, I didn't. It's not fair." She crossed her arms with a huge frown.

Sun shook his head with a laugh.

"Life's not fair, sweetie," he said, "And if it was, then huntsmen wouldn't exist. Without anything unjust and unfair, Remnant wouldn't need anyone to protect it from anything like that, which is just about everything we fight. You see, most of the bad guys me and your mother face do what they do because-"

"Okay, they don't need a long explanation, Sun," Blake said, walking over, "They don't even fully understand what a Grimm is, for the record."

"Sure they do!" Sun exclaimed, scooting Sol onto his knee and bouncing him, "They get that a Grimm is a big, dark, scary, _pathetic _monster that me and you destroy all the time!" He gave her a big smile, his unique, silly smile.

Blake rolled her eyes but smirked, leaning down and placing a soft, warm kiss on Sun's lips. Smiling, Sun returned it, and the two of them continued to do so until Pluto stood up abruptly and pulled the two apart.

"Ew, gross!" she complained, though a smile could be seen on her face, "You're makin' me wanna puke!"

"Please don't," Blake said, standing up straight and patting her daughter on the head, "It's bedtime, honey, why aren't you in bed?"

Pluto frowned and shook her head, looking annoyed and somewhat disgusted.

"I don't wanna go to bed," she answered stubbornly, "I'm not even tired, yet, anyway! Plus, Luna and Stella just went to bed, and they're like, _way _younger than me! Oh, and Sol is still awake, so there."

She crossed her arms and faced her dad, hoping he would come to her aid. Sun chuckled and stood up, still holding his son who was laying his head on his dad's shoulder, half asleep already. He took Pluto's hand with his free one and began towards her room.

"Hey, where are we going?!" she cried, attempting to jerk herself from his grip, "I'm not going to sleep!"

"Yes, you are," Sun answered firmly, surprising Pluto. She didn't argue at this, and stopped fighting, knowing there was no use. She allowed herself to be lead to her room, laid in her bed, and then covered up with her blanket, the lights flicking off soon after.

"G'night, sweetie," Sun whispered through the half closed door, "I'll play chess with you tomorrow, okay?"

Pluto's green eyes lit up in the dark room, and her teeth formed an impish grin. Nodding her head vigorously at the door, she lay flat on her pillow, immediately plotting out her moves for the oncoming game.

"I'm gonna whoop your sorry butt, though," she snickered to herself, "You'll see; cats are smarter than monkey-brains."

After Sun had successfully laid Sol down after a few failed attempts, (Sol had fussed constantly after being set down in his miniature-toddler bed and had to be re-laid down several times), he walked into in the living room and plopped onto the couch, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

Only a moment after, he heard a baby crying.

Groaning, he decided that he wasn't going to deal with this one.

"Blaaaaaake," he called tiredly, his eyes still closed, "Take care of Saturn, will ya?" Hearing Blake's tired but affirmative response, he smiled and laid back further, enjoying the plush comfort of the couch cushions. Now, if he could just fall asleep before Blake was finished with their infant son, maybe he wouldn't have to be in bed tonight, which meant that he wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night if Saturn did...

Meanwhile, Blake crept slowly into the nursery, closing the door gently behind her and tiptoeing towards the crib in the corner. Saturn's tiny baby cries emanated loudly from the crib, sounding desperate and hungry.

Blake walked over to the edge of the crib railing and smiled down at her two-week old son, remembering just three weeks earlier when she had stood staring into this brand new baby bed, eagerly envisioning what her fifth child would look like. Now he was here, and he was simply precious.

His tiny little monkey tail lay limply beside him, twitching slightly as he kicked around, screaming. She reached down into the crib and carefully scooped him up, cradling him gently in her arms as tenderly as she ever could. He continued to bawl as she moved to the rocking chair in the corner and sat down in it.

She slowly began to nurse him, and he immediately ceased himself as soon as he began to eat, sucking furiously as she fed him. She smiled down at him and then rested her head up against the back of the rocking chair, tiredness overtaking her. Five kids was tough, but she didn't care.

Moments like this, although experienced almost every night, were priceless. Saturn was an unpredictable baby. He would wake up sometimes at night or just sleep the moon away. Sometimes he would be a cinch when it came to diapers, or he'd be a devil. Sometimes he was tame and happy; others, he was a baby demon.

But whatever the case, she loved him, and he was precious. Gently rocking him, she slowly fell asleep, only to be woken up by the gentle whimpering of her baby. She looked down to see that he had finished eating and was now fast asleep.

Standing slowly up, she gingerly carried him back to his crib and laid him down, covering him lightly with the small blanket that had been used for almost every child in their family. Then she kissed him gently on the forehead and then walked back out the door, closing it behind her, and walked into the living room.

To her surprise, she saw that Sun had't gone to bed, but was sleeping, reclined, on the couch, snoring ever so slightly. Chuckling lightly to herself, she took one of the three blankets draped on the top of the couch and lay it over him, joining him on the couch and covering it over herself, as well.

Snuggling into his side, she breathed in his warm, manly scent and smiled, feeling so safe and happy with him. She loved him so much, and even though their romantic story hadn't exactly been the most fuzzy, sappy thing, it really had been wonderful.

"I knew, even when I kept snapping at you back in Menagerie," Blake whispered, "That someday we'd be sitting here like this. I've known. And maybe it didn't seem like it, but I think Dad knew, too. And I know for a fact that Mom did, or at least she had envisioned."

She giggled to herself before closing her eyes and snuggling down one last time, ready to let sleep claim her.

"Hehe, I got you in your soft spot," she heard Sun murmur, humor and excitement dim in his voice, "I love it when you praise me when you don't think I'm listening."

Blake's eyes flashed open and she sat up, roughly elbowing her husband and giving him one of her angry, yellow glares.

"Sun!" she yowled in a hushed tone, "Shut up!" Although annoyed, she snuggled back down and closed her eyes again, acting as if that had never happened. Soon after, she was softly snoring, now in a deep sleep.

Sun grinned at her, half asleep himself, and put his arm around her, scooting her even closer to her and holding her tightly to his side.

"I knew it, too," he mumbled, closing his eyes, "And I love you."

* * *

**Ah, I love BlackSun. Quick note, not everyone so far is a monkey or a cat Faunus. Stella and Saturn are monkey Faunuses, Luna and Pluto are cat Faunuses, and then Sol is a panther Faunus, like his grandpa. :P Anyhow...**

**Story Advertisement: Deafening Silence, by TheAngelOfFate. (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this) **

**Do What We Do Best, by RelightTheTorch. (Trifa and Roman fans, read this)**

**A Silent Connection (JauneXNeo fans, read this)**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
